Homemade Vegetarian Chili
This simple vegetarian chili recipe tastes incredible! It's easy to make with basic pantry ingredients, vegetables and spices. Gluten free and easily vegan.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 3, 2024
It’s freezing cold outside, and has been for days. All I want to eat is cozy comfort food like this vegetarian chili recipe. It’s my favorite, and leftovers taste even better the next day.
This chili is perfect for watching football games with a crowd, since it’s a hearty meatless option that carnivores will enjoy. Plus, it can be vegan and gluten free if you choose your toppings carefully. This chili will satisfy everyone.
I originally published this recipe four years ago. Since then, it’s become your favorite chili recipe as well (four-hundred reviews and counting).
I’ve cheered when you’ve told me that it won your chili competition, and love hearing that it’s become a staple recipe in your kitchen. Hooray!
How to Make the Best Vegetarian Chili
While the ingredients in this chili recipe are super basic, the flavor is anything but. Simple ingredients can taste exceptional when they start off with aromatics like onion, carrot, celery and garlic.
I added traditional chili spices and some smoked paprika for an extra-savory, smoky note. Canned beans and tomatoes contribute delicious plant-based protein and heft.
Blending a small portion of the chili makes it look and taste like a chili that has been cooking all morning long, but it only needs about 30 minutes of simmering. That’s a little trick that I learned from my lentil soup, which is another cozy option for cold days.
Finishing off the chili with a little splash of sherry vinegar (or lime juice) and fresh cilantro makes it taste vibrant and fresh. The vinegar offers a little acidity and complexity, and it makes all the difference.
Watch How to Make Vegetarian Chili
Chili Toppings
This chili is dairy-free and vegan as written. You can keep it that way by choosing vegan toppings like sliced avocado and tortilla chips.
Here’s a full list of options:
- Grated cheddar cheese
- Sour cream or crème fraîche
- Sliced or diced avocado
- Tortilla chips (crumbled if desired)
- Additional cilantro
- Lime wedges
Leftover Chili?
This chili makes great leftovers, which keep well for four days in the refrigerator. Reheat your chili in a bowl, and it’s good to go.
You can also serve this chili as a protein-rich topping on nachos, baked potatoes or oven-baked fries. Stuff your burritos or quesadillas with chili. Why not?
Please let me know how this chili turns out in the comments! I always love to hear from you.
Stay warm out there, and if you love this hearty soup, be sure to check out the soup recipes in my cookbook.
Homemade Vegetarian Chili
The smoky, complex flavor of this simple vegetarian chili comes from basic pantry ingredients, vegetables and spices! It makes great leftovers, too. Recipe yields 4 large or 6 moderate servings of chili.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder*
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika*
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 large can (28 ounces) or 2 small cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes**, with their juices
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnishing
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar or lime juice, to taste
- Garnishes: chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, tortilla chips, sour cream or crème fraîche, grated cheddar cheese, etc.
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil until shimmering. Add the chopped onion, bell pepper, carrot, celery and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Stir to combine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the onion is translucent, about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and oregano. Cook until fragrant while stirring constantly, about 1 minute.
- Add the diced tomatoes and their juices, the drained black beans and pinto beans, vegetable broth and bay leaf. Stir to combine and let the mixture come to a simmer. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally and reducing heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, for 30 minutes.
- Remove the chili from the heat and discard the bay leaf. For the best texture and flavor, transfer 1 ½ cups of the chili to a blender, making sure to get some of the liquid portion. Securely fasten the lid and blend until smooth (watch out for hot steam), then pour the blended mixture back into the pot. (Or, you can blend the chili briefly with an immersion blender, or mash the chili with a potato masher until it reaches a thicker, more chili-like consistency.)
- Add the chopped cilantro, stir to combine, and then mix in the vinegar, to taste. Add salt to taste, too—I added ¼ teaspoon more at this point. Divide the mixture into individual bowls and serve with garnishes of your choice. This chili will keep well in the refrigerator for about 4 days or you can freeze it for longer-term storage.
Notes
Recipes consulted during the making of this recipe: vegetarian chili with winter vegetables (The New York Times), vegetarian chili (Saveur) and winter vegetable chili (Food and Wine).
Make it vegan/dairy free: This chili recipe is vegan as written. Just be sure to choose vegan/dairy free toppings, such as avocado and tortilla chips.
If you love this recipe: You’ll also love my butternut squash chipotle chili and sweet potato chili. You might also enjoy my hearty lentil soup and black bean soup.
*Spice note: If you are sensitive to spice or using particularly potent spices (I hear that chili powder purchased outside of the U.S. can be very hot), you might want to scale back on the spice here. Start with half of the amounts listed and add more to taste. That said, I enjoy spicy food and found this chili to be well-balanced as written.
**Canned tomatoes note: I recommend Muir Glen brand—they have the best flavor and their cans are BPA-free!
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Love your site! I’ve gotten lots of great ideas and tips over the years!
What I make is very similar with a couple tweaks to personal preference and what’s in the fridge/pantry.
I’m one of those weirdos who doesn’t like carrots so will sub extra bell peppers (1 ea. red, yellow n orange for a big batch), a bag of frozen baby white corn and zucchini if I have it for sweetness.
I love almost any chili but we usually go for big batches and a lot of heat which is where the extra peppers, corn n zucchini came in. Will sauté seeded jalapeno and sometimes serrano in with the onions and garlic. Use V8 low sodium Hot & Spicy for the base to replace broth and some of the tomatoes. Depending on texture, I may add more tomatoes (absolutely Muir Glen!!), some more V8, sometimes some rotel. With the bigger batch I can add at least one more can of beans, probably dark red kidney beans for color. So pretty!!
Made this today, absolutely delicious. 10/10
I’m glad you loved it, Sean!
I love this recipe! Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Kate!
Delicious and super easy! Definitely going into the dinner rotation.
Is it ok to make this recipe with crushed tomatoes instead if diced? I am trying to double the recipe and have one can if crushed and once can of diced tomatoes on hand. Thanks!
It will be different, but you can try it!
HI Kate. Delicious recipe. One minor detail: can you please clarify if the pot needs to be covered during the simmering? Thanks.
No need to cover. I’m glad you love it!
I made this today for the Super Bowl and it was fabulous. Tons of flavor. The quick hit at the end with the immersion blender made the texture perfect. We topped with sour cream, cilantro, and shredded cheese. This will go into our regular rotation, replacing a ground beef chili I usually make.
A great one for the game! Thank you for sharing, Rhonda.
A family member doesn’t like cilantro. So you have a suggestion for a substitution? Or could I just have it as a topping for this who love cilantro….like me. Looking forward to making this for the weekend.
You can omit it or add to individual bowls.
Great recipe. The smoked paprika really makes this recipe outstanding.
I am not tolerant of chili however. The first time I made this recipe I did not see the asterix beside the chili in the ingredients list. On a phone it is hard to see. I used the full 2 TBSP and it was way too hot for me. I would suggest that you put your explanation for the amount you use right in the ingredients list.
Thanks
Thank you for sharing, Jim! I’m excited you enjoyed it.
This was some of the yummiest chilli I’ve ever had. I ended up omitting chilli powder because I didn’t have any (lol) but I added some red pepper flakes and smoked paprika in its place. Tumeric and black pepper for some anti inflammatory properties as well!
I used a potatoe masher for a more chilli like consistency, I like to dip toast into it!
Fantastic, Jessica! Thank you for sharing.
Wow, this chili is to-die-for! I make good chili and I think this beats most all of the ones I’ve made – some with meat in the past and some vegetarian. I don’t miss the meat at all. I followed the recipe exactly except for one small change – I added about half of a fresh jalapeno. To top it, Instead of adding dairy cheese, I added vegan parmsan on top, along with fresh cilantro, avocado, and crackers. I’m having it now on a very cold, snowy night in Colorado. Thank for for this wonderful recipe. It will definitely become a regular for me.
We have pleasantly discovered that left-over chili also tastes great as a filling in omlettes. Yum!
Definitely did not miss the meat in this vegetarian version! Just might be my go-to chili recipe! I added green bell pepper and a good shake of curry powder (tip from Jackie Hill Perry, definitely recommend). Blending some of the chili was a great idea. My whole family loved it. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
hi Kate, I made your chili this morning, adding in a couple of small chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and an extra rib of celery because we love the texture it gives. I didn’t have pinto beans, so used a can of red kidney beans instead. It tastes great and I’m sure will be even better by this evening, after it sits for a few hours, and perfect tomorrow too! Next time, I think I might add some cremini mushrooms as well. In the past, all my vegan chili has had TVP for ‘meat texture’ but I think I prefer this recipe. Thank you!
Delicious! I loved the smokiness from the paprika. Thank you for the recipe
Absolutely delicious! We raved about this one and it’s going to be a regular make. We had it with brown rice and a dollop of Greek yogurt with hot sauce and garnishes. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
I’m glad you love it, Treen! I appreciate your review.
Hi,Great blog.Love this recipe.Thank you for sharing.
Really enjoyed making this even more so eating it..throughly recommend this recipe
Great to hear, Kate!
This was the best chili we have ever eaten. Added to my liftoff the best black bean soup!
Great to hear, Nancy!
I made this tonight to use up some canned goods I had kicking around. I used kidneys beans instead of pinto because that’s what I had. I also added 2 chopped jalapeños, some chipotle powder, and a can of corn. Instead of 2 cups veggie broth (which seemed like too much liquid), I used a little over a cup of craft lager. I finished it with lime juice.
Anyways, it’s tasty, inexpensive to make, and I look forward to the leftovers.
Great to hear, Sarah! I appreciate your review.
So good!! I sauteed the veggies, put everything in my slow cooker, added a small sweet potato. I put the slow cooker on low and left for 6 hours. Was delicious!!
I’m glad you loved it, Lois! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Surprisingly good. I made it last night and my kids and hubby who are heavy meat eaters love it. Very flavorful. Followed recipe exactly, except I added chicken broth instead because I didn’t have vegetable broth.
Fantastic! The only change I made was to add cayenne to spice it up more. This is a keeper.
Wonderful to hear, Jackie!
Absolutely delicious! Excited to have finally found the perfect vegetarian chili recipe. My entire family, even my meat-eating husband, thought the chili tasted amazing. Thanks you for sharing your recipe! I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
I’m not vegan, or even vegetarian, but I am trying to eat less meat so I was looking for a veg chilli a couple years ago when I found this recipe. I’ve made it many times since, practically every other weekend in fall/winter.
As a fairly unskilled cook, the biggest thing I struggle with is seasoning. I think the spices and ratios in this recipe are perfect, so while I don’t strictly follow the recipe I always use it for the spices.
Just lately I’ve started using dry beans cooked in an Instant Pot instead of canned and it’s taken this chili to the next level.
Turned out great! Made it for my neighbour who lost his wife. There’s enough for me too. More and more, I like your vegetarian recipes.
Thanks, Kate! I love all of your recipes…I find them all to be perfect!! Especially the addition of citrus!! I always had more cumin bc I love and we added some chipotle peppers bc we like it spicy!! I think sharing recipes is a global love language, so big thanks!!
Absolutely delicious! I followed the exact recipe and added a handful of Quorn mince as well. All the family loved it! Thank you so much!
I made this many times, it’s really good!
I love to hear that, SH! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Made this recipe for the first time – Absolutely delicious!!
I have made this recipe many times and love it. I make the recipe exactly as written. the only change I have made is the chili powder. I swap out 2 teaspoons of the chili powder for chipotle chili powder.
However, it does make it spicy…. delicious!
Oh my god I’ve just made this chili. I’ve never had a vegetarian chili before…. I will not be making it with meat again. It was absolutely the best I’ve ever tasted. If you are making it in the UK definitely halve the chili powder
I love to hear that, Hazel! Thank you for your review.
I made this for the second time yesterday. I didn’t take the time to put part of it in the blender this time. My modifications included adding a Tbs. of cacoa powder (which I almost always add to chili), half of a fresh jalapeno, and to use a little less cumin because I ran out. I must say that it’s better putting part of it in the blender. I love this recipe!
Thank you for sharing, Carol!
Used the immersion blender for about five seconds, added a little sweet potato since it was sitting out waiting to be used, and had to substitute kidney beans for the pinto beans to avoid a trip to the store. Everyone went back for more.
Made this today and it was amazing! Thank you for doing all the hard work so we just have to follow the recipe. It was a hit in my house.
So, I am not a vegetarian but my sister is, and one time when I was visiting her in Washington (I live in Colorado), I made a chili similar to this for her and the rest of my family.
We all went nuts for it! It was so flavorful that I barely missed the meat! The only difference was I ended up adding some sweet potatoes for some extra flavor.
I loved it so much that I ended up writing an article about it myself on my own blog, the-s-word.net!
That’s great to hear, Scotty! Thank you for sharing.
Made this earlier this week using sweet potatoes instead of carrots. So yummy and filling! thank you so much for the simple and easy recipe :)
You’re welcome, Agnes! I appreciate your review.
My 10 yr young son and his friend loved this and gobbled it up. It was even better the next day and I ate some cold and it was still good! The smoked paprika blows it out of the park with a bbq type flavor. I skipped the oil, used water instead of broth, used low sodium diced tomatoes, decreased chili powder to 1 TBS, added chopped cilantro and topped the bowls with shredded lettuce for the cooling effect and crunch. Delicioso!
That’s great to hear, Laura! Thank you for your review.
I LOVE this recipe! I have never modified it but…I have Trader Joe’s soy chorizo and want to mix it in. What adjustments do you recommend? Leave out the spices and salt? Thank you!
I’m a vegetarian so I don’t have great guidance there. Sorry!
This missed the mark completely, no savour, the carrots were still hard, the step of blending chili is completely un-necessary and shouldn’t be in a chili recipe, consistency should bbe achieved in different means.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love this.
Our family is trying to eat mostly vegetarian. I was skeptical of vegetarian chili (mostly that I could make it as satisfying as meat chili). This recipe did not disappoint. I tried the recipe as is since it was my first time making it. Although I didn’t have celery. It was fantastic. Super satisfying. Everyone loved it.
That’s great to hear, Sarah! I appreciate your review.
I made this recipe today without green pepper or cilantro and it was absolutely horrible. Will probably have to throw it away. Would Red pepper and cilantro make that much difference?
I’m sorry to hear that. I find it’s best as written.
Hi Cookie & Kate. Made this chilli for dinner, my adult son is vegetarian, but we all shared and it was delicious. Quite hot, but you can always fix that. Thank you for all your great recipes. Meg K. Australia
Planning on making this for a group camping trip! Any thoughts on how to bulk cook this for a large group ahead of time? (About 35 people)
Help!
This is great leftover! You can increase this recipe by the size you need, just be sure you have large enough pots.
Delicious, I wish we could post pics lol
what is a “rib of celery”? Is it a stalk or a bunch?
Hi! One stalk. I hope you love it, Wendy.
Yum! I’m surprised how much i like this. Can’t handle chili so used spicy paprika instead, and then also included the sweet paprika. Added sweetcorn (cause i add it to everything) and some cream for serving. A feck load of coriander, avocado and basmatic rice- so glad i made a batch
I’m glad you tried it, Anne!
This is the best chili I’ve ever had.
That’s great to hear, Laura! Thank you for your review.
This has got to be the best chili recipe I’ve ever made! Love the addition of fresh cilantro. I added lime juice to the end as well and topped with cheese, plain Greek yogurt and guacamole. Simply delicious!
This is so dang good! I’m a meat lover but this veggie chilli is just so flavourful and hearty! I’ve made it twice now and it will continue to be a regular during this Winter! I’m from Australia so even half a teaspoon of chilli powder brings a zing. 1 teaspoon was a good spice and I enjoy spice. Just be aware of this if you’re making it from Aus. Amazing recipe and I’m keen to try the other recipes on this site
I’m glad you loved this, Naomi!